Odhner, Rachel: Travel Grant - 2016-2017

College:

College of Arts and Sciences

Department:

Anthropology

Project Title:

​Climate science, water scarcity, and development: The new resource politics of Nicaraguan farmers

Project Abstract:

Water scarcity is a central concern for smallholder farmers of the global South as they cope with climate change. Agricultural research and development actors increasingly frame food security and water management interventions in terms of climate adaptation. My dissertation project examines such interventions in Nicaragua, where the future of water resources and agricultural livelihoods is threatened not only by climate change and historic drought, but also by the prospect of a transoceanic canal. By ethnographically exploring how farmers are coping with drought and politically engaging in broader debates about water, I aim to shed light on the socio-ecological interconnections of Nicaragua’s contested water- and landscapes.